


A Number and Two Characters

by nyatsuma (orphan_account)



Series: Tumblr Prompt Fills [4]
Category: Gintama
Genre: Bonfires, Broken Families (Turned Whole Again), Gekijouban Gintama Kanketsu-hen: Yorozuya yo Eien Nare | Be Forever Yorozuya, Gen, Gintoki makes a bad analogy, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Pain
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-28
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-06-04 23:59:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6681193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/nyatsuma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An assortment of prompt fills from Tumblr from the "Number and Two Characters" meme. Chapter titles are each prompt! Tags will be added as I go along.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. sakamoto and enmi!gin and dying, obvs

**Author's Note:**

> ...I swear I'll get actual, non-prompt fics eventually. Anyway you can find this one on Tumblr [here](http://nyatsuma.tumblr.com/post/143510801133/sakamoto-and-enmigin-and-dying-obvs).

They buried him without a body.

Tatsuma wanted to believe it wasn’t true. He wanted to convince himself that Gintoki was out there somewhere,, alive. Once the plague started to ravage the nation, the world… He fled from Earth and his hopes. He left those behind on an empty planet with no meaning to him anymore.

“Where did your optimism go?” they asked.

It was still there. He still made upbeat comments, saying things would get better, but it was getting harder. The weight of Gintoki’s death crushed him immensely. People were noticing. His smile wasn’t as big, his laughs more forced. He was trying so hard to stay happy so everyone else would be.

Mutsu saw past his guard. She heard him scream at night.

Two years after Gintoki’s death, Tatsuma stopped smiling. He hadn’t been back to Earth in two years, safe in the void of space. Threat of plague was gone in the ships now.

Five years later, he still thought about Gintoki, how much he meant, how much it still hurt that he had died. Tatsuma thought about how much he had changed himself. His old self had died. How could he stay happy? He wondered, would it ever go away? He found himself crying. Would he ever stop mourning? He wanted to…

…Why was he crying?

 

 

He knew his past self could do it without hesitation.

Killing himself would be easy. It’s always easy when he doesn’t even see value in himself.

And he swore he saw a familiar someone approaching as his eyes slid closed, laughter echoed in his ears, a huge warm smile welcoming him, and he smiled back.


	2. Kaientai + Smile (shush i know this isnt two characters bbut)

They were broken.

Yet… now they are whole.

A bunch of people all gathered in one place under the same purpose. The children were taught, the adults worked and the elders rested. Whole families lived under one roof in space.

The Kaientai was more than a business. It was a family.

Tatsuma and Mutsu were in charge, of course. The parents of the Kaientai, to put into better terms. Tatsuma worked hard to buy everyone back, reading ship logs and backtracking. He gave them food, shelter, work, and a new family to call home, since most had lost theirs ages ago. The moment they were his, he broke their chains, set them free and allowed them to live how they wanted on his ships.

Mutsu was someone they all looked up to once she was forgiven for selling them in the first place. Tatsuma wasn’t the best of role models for the kids, but Mutsu was cool and collected, level headed. She, too, helped break the chains. She helped when things got a bit too rough. And when a reunion was possible, she helped get the kidnapped one back to their original families with joy all around.

The Kaientai, the happiness support company… certainly did produce its fair share of smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find this one [here!](http://nyatsuma.tumblr.com/post/143511697653/kaientai-smile-shush-i-know-this-isnt-two)


	3. 37, gintoki and sakamoto

“Your eyes dart a lot.”

Eye contact was normally not a thing anyway - but Tatsuma’s eyes darted left and right, up and down, like he wasn’t quite sure where to put them in the end. They were sitting by a fire at camp when Gintoki finally decided to bring it up. “Why?”

“Eh? I don’t know. Even looking at someone’s face makes me feel like they’re staring into me. Doesn’t help that I’m a con man I guess!” He laughed.

Gintoki let out a small huff and threw a stick into the fire. “They also remind me of the river that flowed behind my old schoolhouse. Blue and constantly on the move.”

“Ahaha, that’s an interesting analogy.” Tatsuma rubbed his hair a bit.

“Sometimes that’s the only way I know how to get my point across.” He flicked the other’s forehead and Tatsuma jumped, rubbing at it before cursing at Gintoki a bit. He just smiled, that devil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find this one [here!](http://nyatsuma.tumblr.com/post/143512356008/37-gintoki-and-sakamoto)


End file.
